The giant conifer, Fitzroya cupressoides (Mol.) Johnston, or Alerce (ah-laír-say), which is native to southern Chile and Argentina, has been intensively exploited for its durable wood since the European colonization of southern South America. Today, it persists only in relatively small stands mostly in very remote and inaccessible areas. While location in national parks provides most of the few remaining Alerce stands in Argentina with effective protection, Alerce continues to be exploited in Chile. Conservation of Chile's largest and longest-lived trees is complicated by inadequate ecological knowledge of Alerce, as well as by the socio-economic conflicts that are often associated with protection of rare but commercially valuable species.Following exploitation, Alerce regenerates extremely poorly, though for reasons which are still unknown. Possible explanations include (1) inadequate seed production or seedling establishment in all but unusually favourable years occurring at intervals of at least ten years, (2) deterioration of the soil due to the potent leaching effect of the coniferous litter, or (3) a directional change in the climate of southern Chile since the time of establishment of much of the once-extensive forests of Alerce.Historically, Alerce has played an important role in the economy of southern Chile since the late sixteenth century, and it continues to be commercially important. The great scientific and cultural importance of Alerce justifies giving it total protection with the status of a national monument.

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Site factors and variables that best explain productivity variability were determined for sites with adult Pinus radiata plantations. The study covered 70 sites in Central Chile (33°-41° S) with great climate and soil variations. Through correlation analysis, step-wise and linear regression, climate stood out as the main factor of productivity variability. According to this result, the need to analyze sites with sandy soils separately from those with non-sandy soils became evident. The water regime, through the soil physical and climatic variables, was shown have the greatest effect upon productivity; the regime of soil nutrients was shown to have a lesser effect.

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This paper discusses a site classification system based on forest productivity in Chile. The system makes use of the following environmental factors, arranged in order of decreasing importance in forest productivity; macroclimate, local climate, soil physical properties, and finally, soil chemical-nutritive properties. Based on previous analyses, climatic factors are most important in determining forest productivity up to a scale of 1:500.000, with soil becoming the decisive factor at finer scales. Accordingly, Chile was divided into six well-differentiated macroclimatic regions, each one further divided into growth zones (based on climate), growth districts (climate), and growth areas (based on both climate and soil at a scale of 1:250.000). More detailed subdivisions are based on soil physical properties. The resulting classification system functions as a forest-planning tool, and provides information about the causal relationships of forest productivity. Its applications may also include the management of information related to soil nutrient surveys and soil management.